\u00a9 Claire Takacs<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
The area in front of the house was originally a dwarf box parterre enclosing softer planting. It has since evolved into an intensively planted area where Patricia enjoys the dynamic nature of gardening, relishing the changes of colour, mass and texture that occur through successive seasons.<\/p>\n
In Brief<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Name<\/strong> Cooks Farm. What<\/strong> A garden awash with scent and sumptuous colour, dissolving magically into its surroundings.\u00a0 Where<\/strong> Somerset.\u00a0 Soil<\/strong> Heavy Burtle clay, in need of constant improvement, wet in places. Size<\/strong> Two acres of garden set among 40 acres of conservation landscape. Climate<\/strong> Relatively sheltered, but a frost pocket. Hardiness zone<\/strong> USDA 9.<\/p>\n
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\u00a9 Claire Takacs<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
The path to the front door is the ideal place for intricate plantings of small and unusual subjects \u2013 where both the flowers themselves and the passage of the seasons can be observed in detail. Here Patricia grows delicately coloured verbenas, nerines and sweet Williams (Dianthus barbatus<\/em>) along with deliciously fragrant Salvia<\/em> Love and Wishes\n(= \u2018Serendip6\u2019), lavenders and rosemary.<\/p>\n
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\u00a9 Claire Takacs<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Along the rill are pots of Eucomis<\/em> \u2013 deep-red Eucomis<\/em> comosa<\/em> \u2018Sparkling Burgundy\u2019 and fresh-green Eucomis<\/em> bicolor<\/em> \u2013 along with Aeonium<\/em> \u2018Zwartkop\u2019, and several different types of agapanthus. The dark tones of the succulents are picked up by two towering specimens of Phormium<\/em> \u2018Dusky Princess\u2019 at the far end of the rill.<\/p>\n
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\u00a9 Claire Takacs<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
In these borders behind the house, Patricia\u2019s romantic, blue-to-purple schemes give way to hotter, more intense colours, employing plenty of orange, purple and red. Here she uses sunflowers and heleniums (especially Helenium<\/em>\u00a0\u2018Moerheim Beauty\u2019), deep-red dahlias and purple gladioli, set off by elegant Kniphofia<\/em> \u2018Little Maid\u2019 and different colours of box. Cercis canadensis<\/em> \u2018Forest Pansy\u2019 provides a splash of reddish purple in the background.<\/p>\n
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